Fides
by The Blue Raven
Summary: Will and Magnus have always had faith in each other in good times and bad ones. The events of “Veritas” did nothing to change that but Will’s still shaken by them and, as always, Magnus is there when he needs her. Hurt/comfort, friendship.


**Fides**

**Summary:** Will and Magnus have always had faith in each other in good times and bad ones. The events of "Veritas" did nothing to change that but Will's still shaken by them and, as always, Magnus is there when he needs her. Hurt/comfort, friendship.

**Rating: **PG

**Author's Note:** The plot-Nubbin that spawned this is courtesy of talkofcake over at Livejournal. Most of the mental images are courtesy of one of my cats.

**Fides **

Magnus moaned softly as she came awake, reaching to pinch the bridge of her nose. She hadn't intended to sleep, not with poor Will sitting there looking at her like he expected her to vanish in a puff of smoke. But the toxin had taken an undeniable toll on her body and sleep had eventually overwhelmed her.

She turned her head before she opened her eyes, expecting to see her loyal protégé sitting where she'd last seen him. It was a surprise to see his chair gone and she forced herself to see further, to the next bed. He had, after all, spent enough nights in the infirmary with other patients he didn't want to leave and, normal roles aside, she was most decidedly a patient right now even if she was worlds better than she'd been twenty-four hours ago.

He wasn't in the next bed but a soft snore from the direction of her feet forced her into a more wakeful and aware state. It at least explained the feeling of warmth and pressure on her ankles. She smiled warmly.

There was Will, his chair at the foot of her bed, sound asleep with his cheek resting against one of her legs and his hand wrapped loosely around the other. Shaking her head, she sat up and leaned forward, gently petting the young man's hair.

"You're going to get a sore neck sleeping like that, monkey," she murmured.

"Mmm," he mumbled, followed by a garbled slur that she supposed was her name and possibly the word 'close' although that was debatable.

"Wake up, Will," she directed, gentle but firm.

His head shot up and he regarded her with wide eyes, wiping the corner of his mouth and then, with a sheepish expression, reaching down to mop moisture from her bare ankle as well. She bit her lower lip against the laugh that threatened.

"Sorry," he muttered, blushing furiously and rubbing his eyes.

"I've been drooled on by people born before your grandparents, Will," she pointed out with a gentle smile. "Neck sore?"

"Not really. I think I was only asleep for a few minutes."

"Will, it's nearly morning," she sighed, shaking her head. "Go get some rest."

"I wouldn't have felt right leaving you alone after everything you've been through."

"At least lay down properly," she directed, pointing to the next bed.

He shook his head, looking momentarily panicked before forcing his face into a neutral mask.

"I'm fine," he told her.

"Feeling the need to stay close?" she ventured. "It's an urge I understand, Will, as many people as I've lost and come close to losing in my lifetime. Come here," she directed, rolling onto her side and sliding to the far side of the bed.

"Magnus," he began, expression uncertain.

"It's okay; you're okay," she soothed, nodding encouragingly.

He hesitated for a moment, slipping off his shoes and climbing into the hospital bed with her, keeping as much distance as he could in the little bed, back pressed firmly to the rail he must have raised before letting himself sleep. She smiled at his behavior. Neither had ever been shy physically or in terms of personal space but propriety dictated a certain degree of restraint, too, when two bodies occupied one bed.

"Better?" she asked, resting the back of two fingers against his cheek.

"Yeah," he whispered, closing his eyes. "Thanks."

"At the risk of assuming _your_ professional prerogative, do you need to discuss it?"

He shook his head once, turning his cheek into her fingers with a look on his face like that contact was all there was in his universe at present. She could see him trying to focus on it to the exclusion of all else. And, judging by his tears, failing at his self-appointed task.

"Tell me what you're thinking," she directed gently.

"I thought it was over; I thought we'd lost you," he whispered brokenly.

"But you continued fighting. I knew your insights would win the day for us."

"It was a team effort. Henry and Kate were amazing."

"Don't belittle your contribution, Will. This would never have worked without you. Yet again, you've done magnificently."

He sniffed hard at that, biting his lip and rejecting her words with an almost-violent shake of the head. Sighing, she closed most of the distance between them, drawing his forehead down to her shoulder. He moaned and shifted until his nose pressed against the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply.

"Will?" she whispered, wrapping her arms around him and rubbing his back in soothing circles. "Talk to me."

"I missed the obvious for so long. Looked Emma in the eye over and over and over again and it just eluded me," he told her, voice breaking more than once.

"You're good, Will, but you aren't perfect."

He sniffed again, shifting closer and wrapping his arms around her waist. "I thought we'd lost you," he repeated, clinging to her and trembling just slightly. "I thought _I_'d lost you."

"And I'm _so_ sorry to have done that to you but I knew your devotion would make you keep searching for the truth."

"It was a gamble. How'd you know I wouldn't give up once the evidence stacked up against you?"

"Whether you believed me guilty of that murder was never the point, Will. My abrupt mental deterioration would still have left you searching for answers. You need those the way the rest of us need air," she pointed out, bringing one hand up to tangle in his hair, petting him soothingly.

"You should have brought your concerns about Emma to me."

"I needed you ignorant."

"I could have found another way. You could have died, Magnus!"

She didn't tell him that it would have been worth it to expose Emma, just continued to hold him close.

"Get some rest, Will. You've earned it. I'll be here when you wake up."

"Promise me?" he asked, voice plaintive.

"You have my word. Now rest."

He nodded weakly, leaning into her. "Welcome back, Magnus," he mumbled into her shoulder.

"Thank you for your part in helping me find my way back," she murmured, letting her fatigued body relax again and humming a tune that had always helped sooth Ashley and Henry when they were young and troubled. "And mind you don't drool on these pajamas. They were a gift from Princess Atusko."

"Name-dropper," he yawned. "Stop it."

"It's perfectly true."

"I know it is but you want me to go to sleep and that's not going to happen if you regale me with stories of how you saved a member of the Japanese Imperial family from a nogitsune."

"Not the family, just the Ise Jingῡ. Now _sleep_, my faithful Achates."

Whatever answer he meant to make was lost in a yawn and she quickly felt his body relax against hers as some combination of fatigue and relief overtook him. Smiling, she settled back to get some more rest herself.

Again, she didn't intend to sleep, but she was warm and content with Will there, her presence rendering him comfortable and once more happy. She felt safe with him, too. Cheeky or not, her monkey had yet again proven there was nothing he wouldn't do for her, no benefit of the doubt too great to extend her as a matter of course. He had more faith and devotion than most of her other protégés combined. When sleep claimed her again, she was smiling.

**The End**


End file.
